


Game On

by UmbreonGurl



Category: League of Legends
Genre: Alternate Universe - K/DA (League of Legends), Bets, Gamer Girls, Gen, Shenanigans, gaming at an arcade, its comedy ok, no beta we die like your inting teammates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-10 03:01:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,202
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27527317
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UmbreonGurl/pseuds/UmbreonGurl
Summary: Akali really should have known better than to make a bet with Ahri—there’s areasonfoxes are known for being tricky.
Comments: 10
Kudos: 85





	Game On

“You know, I bet I could beat you at a lot of them.”

The statement is so out of left field that Akali isn’t sure she’s hearing Ahri correctly at first. “What?”

“The arcade games,” Ahri clarifies. “I’m not as up-to-date on the video game scene as I used to be, but I kicked a lot of ass back in the day. You said they’ve got old machines there, right?”

Ahri’s question may as well go in one ear and out the other. Akali tries her best not to gape.

“You were into games?”

The mere idea of it is baffling, to say the least. Ahri has always been—for lack of a better term—a bit of a grandma. She knows how to use Twitter and how to search things up online, but that’s only due to hours of daily practice. Ahri is quite capable, yes, but a techie, she is not.

Even if she _was_ technologically savvy, Ahri had never really seemed like a gamer. She’d always seemed too much of a fashionista to really be into it. (Then again, everyone in K/DA has things they don’t really go around telling most people, so in the grand scheme of things Ahri having a side hobby shouldn’t be all that weird.)

“Mhmm.” Ahri grabs her phone and flips to her calendar. “You said you were going to the arcade later today, right?”

“Yeah, why? You want to come?” Akali offers more out of courtesy than anything, highly expecting a “no, I have appointments today” or something along those lines. It never comes.

“Maybe—I have a lunch meeting, so depending on your timing I might tag along, if that’s okay?”

“Yeah,” Akali starts, before realizing she never finished her train of thought. “I mean—yeah, of course that’s okay. I wouldn’t have offered if it wasn't.”

“Wonderful!” Ahri claps her hands together excitedly a few times, ears perking up and tail lazily waving back and forth. “Oh, I’m just so excited! I haven’t been to an arcade in what feels like ages.”

Ahri brings a hand up to scratch at her chin. “Y’know, I wonder if I still have the high scores at the place I used to go to—if it’s still around.” She pauses briefly and frowns. “It probably isn’t, now that I think about it. A lot of the old places closed.”

“A shame,” Akali muses. “If only I could have seen you play during your prime.”

“Who says I’m not?” When Akali doesn’t respond, Ahri pouts. “Akali, you wouldn’t possibly be calling me old, would you?”

“I would _never.”_ Akali feigns offense. “You said it, not me. I merely implied it.”

“Oh, I’ll show you old, all right _,”_ Ahri grumbles. She takes a moment to think before her lips curl into a devious smile. “Say, Akali, how would you feel about making a teeny-tiny little bet?”

Akali knows from experience that making bets with Ahri is a bad idea—very, _very_ bad idea. Her curiosity, however, overrules her common sense. “Depends. What kind of bet are we talking here?”

Ahri casually twirls a lock of her hair around the end of her finger. “Oh, nothing much. Merely a little friendly competition—a test of skill, if you will.” Her eyes are catlike, playful, _smug_. “Unless you’re scared, that is. I wouldn’t blame you if you were.”

Oh, Ahri is definitely playing with fire now—that’s a clear challenge if Akali’s ever heard one.

“Never,” Akali replies, not one to back down. “I’m listening. What are the stakes?”

“If I win, you come clothes shopping with me. And that means getting some stuff for you as well.”

 _Oh hell no._ Shopping with Ahri usually means getting treated like a life-sized doll, being forced to carry bags, and spending hours on end trying on clothes that are way too expensive to be practical.

“And if I win?” Akali prods. With something like a full-on shopping trip on the line, whatever she’s gonna get if she wins had better be good.

“That’s up to you.” Ahri hums. “Within reason, of course,” she adds as an afterthought.

Akali takes a moment to think. “When I win, you owe me a favor. Nothing outrageous, but no questions asked when I go to cash it in. And I pick the game.”

“We both agree on the game when we get there,” Ahri counters. “And I can’t guarantee no questions.”

Close enough.

“Deal.”

Ahri’s grip is firm as they shake on it, and it is only as claws lightly poke into the back of her hand that Akali knows she has made yet another poor decision.

Whether or not it will stay that way, however, remains to be seen.

* * *

The arcade is pretty busy by the time they get there. Usually Akali would be worried about getting recognized, but most of the people in here care far more about what’s on the screen in front of them than who is to their left or right. (And even if not, Akali is pretty good at keeping on the down low.)

In truth, Akali was far more worried about Ahri being recognized—she sticks out like a sore thumb in most places. Luckily, though, Ahri must have thought ahead, because it only takes a snap of her fingers for anything that would make her seem out of the ordinary to vanish into thin air.

Ahri looks… surprisingly normal. With jeans and a loosely fitting hoodie—and more importantly, no ears or tail—she looks just like everyone else. Mostly. She’s still drop dead gorgeous—just no longer otherworldly so. (Although, she comes very close. Very, _very_ close.)

“So,” Akali starts, “now that we’re here, we should probably clarify the rules before we start.”

“How about a best of three?” Ahri closes her eyes for a moment and smiles innocently. Under the blacklights Akali swears that her teeth almost glow in the dark. “A different game every time. That way, you can’t blame it on being a fluke when I kick your ass.”

“I think you’re jumping to conclusions a bit there, Ahri.” Akali says. “Careful, I wouldn’t want you to fall too far off your high horse when you lose.”

“Oh, don’t you worry about that. I may not be a cat, but I always find a way to land on my feet.” Ahri reaches into the pocket of her jeans and pulls out some crumpled up bills. “No matter what, we’re going to need tokens. Mind showing me where the machine is?”

“Of course. Follow me.” Akali weaves her way through the aisles of arcade machines with practiced ease, and Ahri follows close behind. “You can put the cash away, by the way. I have a monthly pass.”

“Oh.” Ahri hesitates, before shoving the money back into her pocket. “That’s nice.”

“Yeah. I get a certain amount of tokens covered per month, and it nets me a pretty nice discount. Even if you only come once or twice, it pretty much pays for itself.

Akali pulls out a small plastic card from her back pocket and taps it against the coin machine.

“It sounds like a nice system.”

There’s a small beep, and then the familiar clinking of tokens dispensing rings out. Akali grabs a cup from a nearby table and shoves the tokens in handful by handful.

“It is,” Akali agrees. “I think they must know that most of their regulars will stay and buy snacks and stuff, so they must make most of their money off of that.”

“Smart,” Ahri muses. “They should have implemented stuff like that sooner. Maybe there’d be more arcades still open if they did.”

“Maybe.” Akali shrugs. “Who knows.”

Ahri doesn’t respond. Akali doesn’t know whether it’s simply due to having nothing else to say, but Ahri’s expression is hard to see amidst the flashing lights.

“So, what kind of game were you thinking to start with? I’m pretty flexible.”

At that, Ahri perks up. “Do they have Dance Dance Revolution?”

“Hell yeah.” Akali grins. “I do have to warn you, though, I’m pretty good at that game. You sure you wanna pick that one?”

“We’ll see about that.” The way Ahri says the words is confident, as if she were stating a fact.

“Oh?” Akali raises an eyebrow. “Is that a yes, then?”

“Definitely. Unless you’re not up for it,” Ahri challenges.

“No, no, I’m definitely up for it. I just wanted to make sure you were positive before giving me a free win.”

“Whatever you say.” Ahri gives Akali an amused glance. “I’ll let you lead the way, then?”

“Of course,” Akali holds her arm out and mockingly bows like some sort of fancy butler. “After me, milady, I’ll show you to the DDR machines.”

* * *

They have to wait a while for a turn.

Ahri watches the people ahead of them in line closely, and whether or not she’s impressed by the performance, Akali can’t tell. Ahri’s expression, for once, gives nothing away. It’s unsettling—almost reminiscent of Evelynn in a way.

Akali can feel her foot begin to move despite herself. The _tap tap tap_ is barely audible over the constant clicking of buttons and pixelated explosions, but Akali knows Ahri hears it when she looks over briefly. Ahri doesn’t comment on it though, attention turning back to DDR just as quickly as it came.

By the time the machine is free to use, Akali is practically vibrating. She needs to _move._ Ahri, however, has different ideas. When Akali goes to take her place on the dance floor, Ahri holds a hand out to stop her.

“I’ll go first,” she says, and she leaves no room for argument. “Hand me some tokens.”

Akali can only watch as Ahri settles herself in, lightly tapping through settings with practiced ease. It’s only once the announcer loudly announces “challenge mode!” that she starts paying closer attention.

“Umm… Ahri? Did you mean to—”

Ahri cuts her off. “Hush. I know what I’m doing.”

“...if you insist.” Akali isn’t convinced.

“I do,” Ahri replies, cool and confident. “Just be quiet and watch the master at work.”

The intro of the song start playing, and Akali recognizes it instantly. It’s an oldie, a fast paced song often picked by people who either think that they’re hot shit or _are_ hot shit.

Ahri places one hand on the guardrail and throws Akali a smirk, practically bouncing on the balls of her feet. “You ready?”

“Hit me with it.”

In one swift move, Ahri slides across the guardrail and starts breaking it down like someone at a DDR freestyling competition, feet moving to the beat of the music like a well-oiled machine.

“What the _fuck,”_ Akali breathes. As soon as the words leave her mouth, Akali knows quite clearly that she’s made a poor choice in letting Ahri choose the game. If she’s this good at all of the machines, then—

“Well would you look at that.” Ahri laughs. “I’ve still got it!”

A quick glance at the screen makes Akali’s stomach sink further at the rapidly increasing combo counter. Then Ahri does a goddamn _backflip_ , and any shred of hope Akali had left about winning this bet goes right out the window.

Quickly pulling out her phone, Akali records a video clip and sends it to Evelynn.

 _Hey,_ she writes, _since WHEN was Ahri this good at games??? Or dancing?? Like she isn't this good during practice wth is going on?? Bro wtf why did nobody warn me??_

Evelynn responds rather quickly, all things considered.

_Did you make another bet with her?_

Akali glances up for a moment only to see Ahri jumping from one end of the dancefloor to the other near-effortlessly.

_I might have. Wont confirm or deny tho :/_

Akali can’t hear it, but she can practically feel Evelynn’s laugh through the screen.

_You should have learned your lesson the last time, darling. Do your research first._

Akali frowns. How was she supposed to know that Ahri was good at games? Literally every single sign pointed to the opposite.

_Ok first of all I thought I did. Second of all do I look smart to u????_

Evelynn doesn’t respond. Akali huffs and shoves her phone back into her pocket just in time for Ahri to finish up.

Ahri steps off of the dancefloor with a smug smile. “Your turn,” she says. “Try topping that.”

Her score is good, really good, actually—but not perfect. Ahri must have been too caught up in her showmanship to perfectly hit every note. Maybe Akali had been too ahead of herself in assuming she couldn’t win. (Hell, even if Akali messes up this game, there’s absolutely no way Ahri can beat her at Street Fighter.)

“It won’t be that hard,” Akali replies, grabbing a few tokens. “You messed up a few combos with how extra you were being. You’re good, but let me show you how it’s done.”

“Prove it, then,” Ahri counters. “I’ll watch.”

Akali does, and soon one point is secured in her favor.

Unfortunately, though, it takes two to win, and Ahri is a lot less flashy—and better—at games that don’t involve dancing.

Shopping is going to _suck._

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a completely self-indulgent mess. I hc that Ahri is really good at retro games because 1) she's old as hell, and 2) some of the animations in her arcade skin where she just GOES OFF sent my brain churning. I figured it'd be a good opportunity for some good old-fashioned dumbassery and here we are. Don't make bets with people over retro/arcade games, folks, you'll regret it. Shoutout to the time my dad royally kicked my ass at Duck Hunter out of nowhere LMAO. 
> 
> Anyways Ahri is a shithead send tweet. 
> 
> For snippets, updates on what I'm working on, and a shit ton of art retweets, feel free to check out my [twitter.](https://twitter.com/UmbreonGurl)


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